Many popular sports, including but not limited to baseball, involve throwing a ball or other article. Often, it is desirable to throw a ball repeatedly and consistently at a high velocity. When a ball is thrown repeatedly and forcefully, such as by a baseball pitcher attempting to throw a pitch of high velocity, improper throwing technique can cause a number of problems, such as but not limited to, decreased velocity, lack of control, inconsistency in delivery, and arm injury. In many cases, arm injuries caused by improper throwing techniques result in the pitcher being placed on a medical leave or the disabled list until healed, and in some cases such arm injuries may end the pitcher's career prematurely. And when a pitcher has been injured and has been healing, he must re-train pitching to regain his pre-injury pitching capabilities, yet the need to re-train must be balanced against the need to avoid re-injuring the pitcher. As a result, an arm injury caused by improper throwing technique can lead to many weeks on the bench or disable list (i.e. not being able to play), which may have negative consequences for the pitcher's career and financial well-being. Moreover, in teaching and training throwing or pitching technique, there is an emphasis on strengthening the arm and focusing on arm and wrist motion; this focus, combined with the intense competition among professional and nonprofessional athletes, leads to a high incidence of injuries to the throwing arm, shoulder, elbow, wrist, and their supporting muscle tissues, in particular.
The terms “pitching” and “pitcher” are used throughout this application but they are expressly used to mean an example of “throwing” and “thrower,” respectively, and are not meant to be limiting. The term “forward” is defined as toward the target. The term “downward” is defined as toward the ground in the direction of gravity. The term “pitching side” or “pitching” used as an adjective is defined as “left” if the pitcher is training to throw the ball with the left hand and “right” if the pitcher is training to throw the ball with the right hand. The term “nonpitching side” or “non-pitching” used as an adjective is defined as right if the “pitching side” is left, and left if the “pitching side” is right. The term “arm” is defined as the entire arm, including the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, or any part of combination of parts thereof, and should not be construed as limiting.
Proper throwing or pitching technique involves a kinetic chain of motion originating in the pitcher's feet, traveling up the legs and through the body, and culminating in the forward rotation of the body as the ball leaves the pitcher's hand. The kinetic chain of motion in the pitcher's body culminates in the pitcher's throwing arm being propelled forward in an arc and results in the desired “whip” motion of the wrist and hand just as the ball is released. This kinetic chain of motion is best learned and practiced with the pitching arm and hand immobilized in order to focus on the proper body movement which is crucial to proper throwing or pitching technique. Learning, practicing and using proper pitching technique increases power and accuracy while significantly reducing risk of injury. With proper pitching technique, the power and speed of the pitch originates not in the arm or wrist but at the feet and body and is transmitted through the body to the shoulders, arm, wrist and hand, thus greatly reducing the stress and load placed on the pitching arm.
Devices, apparatuses and methods to teach pitching techniques are known. Devices and apparatuses for the rehabilitation or therapy of an injured pitching arm also are known. Information relevant to attempts to address these problems can be found in U.S. Patent and Patent Application Publication Nos. U.S. Pat. No. 7,955,197 to Roudybush; 2003/0220173 to Parker; 2009/0062084 to Gamboa et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,699,724 to Derisse; U.S. Pat. No. 7,374,502 to Comello, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,884,187 to Cataldo, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,660 to Romanick; U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,500 to Quitinskie, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,091 to Romanick; U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,016 to Higgins; U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,588 to DeLuca; U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,471 to Haysom; 2004/0033849 to Socci; 2004/0033850 to Socci; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,730 to Hirsch. However, each of these references suffers from one or more of the following disadvantages: technique and operation of the device or apparatus is focused on movement of the arm and wrist only and does not address or teach body alignment, stability, leverage, direction, momentum, balance, or rotation of the torso; technique and operation of the device or apparatus is focused on teaching and practicing the arc of the pitching arm and/or the “whip” motion of the arm and wrist associated with a powerful pitch; technique and operation of the device or apparatus is focused on developing muscle memory in the arm, wrist and hand; the device or apparatus is sized for average sized adult males and is not adjustable for children or for smaller adults; or use of the device or apparatus requires the arm to perform the motions of throwing a ball and therefore is not appropriate for athletes recovering from arm injuries. None of the references teaches proper throwing technique, focusing on the kinetic chain of energy originating in the feet and utilizing balance, momentum, direction, leverage and rotation to transfer kinetic energy to the throwing arm, which can be used by children or adults regardless of whether they are healing from an arm injury.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an apparatus and a method for teaching and practicing proper throwing technique, focusing on the kinetic chain of energy originating in the feet and utilizing balance, momentum, direction, leverage and rotation to funnel and transfer kinetic energy to the throwing arm, which can be used by children or adults regardless of whether they are healing from an arm injury.